WWE news and notes: 31st July, 2013

CM Punk will be participating in a special giveaway at Wrigley Field during the MLB game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs, with everyone sitting in the Budweiser Bleacher sections receiving a mask.

Punk has also signed two of the masks to be given away, which will make them very rare collectibles. Punk was also recently spotted at a Cubs gaming, singing “Take me out to the ball game” over the announce system during intermission.

WWE.com recently did a poll, asking which former diva fans would most like to see brought back to the company. Surprisingly, Maxine won the vote at 68% beating out Stacy Keibler, Trish Stratus and Kelly Kelly, to name a few. When she was informed of the vote, Maxine re-tweeted several posts by fans praising her and asking for her return, then responded with her own tweet: “I would love to show people what I can really do!”

Maxine was released last year, claiming she left on her own after not progressing in the company at a rate she felt was within her reach, while other sources say she was let go because of attitude problems. Since her release, Maxine has been attempting a career as an actress and promotional model.

The supposed “one night only” replay of Total Divas premiere episode scored 1.53 million viewers, actually beating out the number of the original airing, which was 1.3 million.

Meanwhile, Monday Night RAW this week dropped in viewers from last week, averaging 3.768 million viewers for the entire 3-hour broadcast, a drop of 6%.

During yesterday’s live event in Cape Town, South Africa, a fan in the audience jumped the guardrail and tried to attack Randy Orton, who had just defeated Big E. Langston in a one-on-one match. The fan managed to get one hit in, nailing Orton in the groin.

Orton then proceeded to kick the fan in self-defense before security surrounded the fan and dragged him out of the building, but not before Orton managed to flash a middle finger at the fan. Some reports are indicating the fan may have also tried to attack Langston while he was outside the ring during the course of the match.

TMZ picked up on the story and confirmed its authenticity with a video of the incident in question, showing that Orton was indeed assaulted. Although originally believed to be a hit to the back, the video shows Orton being hit in the groin area. WWE has issued a statement regarding the incident: “Tonight Randy Orton was violently attacked from behind by a South African fan, who is currently being held in jail pending criminal charges. The extent of Orton’s injuries are unknown at this time.” Orton will not be punished for retaliating, as it was done in self-defense.”

As previously stated in another column, WWE’s new October PPV, Battleground, has been causing a lot of people to wonder if it will feature a return of War Games: The Match Beyond. Adding fuel to the fire has been the recent release of a WWE DVD set, chronicling the famed match’s entire history.

Although WWE has not confirmed or denied the rumors, the seating chart for the hosting building has been released and, based on the configuration, the building is not being set up to accommodate the two-ring setup the match is famous for. However, things could change, and it’s also possible WWE will make their own version of the match that only features one ring. It has been done in the past, not to mention that WWE’s Elimination Chamber is heavily inspired by War Games.